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International markets roundup

NEW YORK - US stocks powered to new record highs on Wednesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested the Fed's easy-money policies would remain in place for a while longer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 128.78 (0.88 per cent) to 14,802.24, a new all-time closing high.

The broad-based S&P 500 surged 19.12 (1.22 per cent) higher to 1,587.73, also a record.

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The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 59.39 (1.83 per cent) to 3,297.25, reaching its highest level since November 2000.

The gains came after Federal Reserve minutes suggested aggressive stimulus measures would be in place until the jobs market improves. Last week's weak jobs report suggests that could be a while.

"Reduced fears of tightening monetary policy is helping lift the market after the FOMC minutes showed a majority of the Fed is still opposed to tampering (with) its bond-buying program," said Wells Fargo in a market note.

Most of the blue-chip companies in the Dow recorded gains. The biggest winners were General Electric (+2.2 per cent), Intel (+2.4 per cent), Merck (+2.9 per cent), Pfizer (+2.8 per cent) and Microsoft (+2.3 per cent).

Top Nasdaq companies also scored. Apple was up 2 per cent and Google 1.6 per cent, while added 3.3 per cent and Micron Technology surged 5.4 per cent.

CarMax put on 3.9 per cent after reporting higher earnings and higher-than-expected revenues.

LONDON - Europe's main stock markets closed with strong gains on Wednesday, boosted by Wall Street where the Dow continued its push into record territory.

London's FTSE 100 index of leading companies gained 1.17 per cent to finish at 6,387.37 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 jumped 2.27 per cent to 7,810.63 points, and in Paris the CAC 40 rose 1.99 per cent to 3,743.71 points.

In Milan the FTSE-Mib soared 3.19 per cent to 15,929 points and Madrid's IBEX 35 rose 3.35 per cent to 8136.4 points.

In foreign exchange activity, the European single currency hit a one-month high at $1.3122. It later stood at $1.3058, compared with $1.3080 in New York late on Tuesday.

In Wall Street action, the Dow continued to climb after pressing through another record close on Tuesday, when it ended at 14,673.46 points.

Traders appeared to look past US Federal Reserve meeting minutes that suggested the Fed was closer to ending its stimulus measures if the jobs market continues to improve as data released after the meeting was disappointing.

"We've seen a big turnaround in sentiment amongst our clients, who are now positioned in expectation of (European markets) catching up with the US benchmarks," said analyst Matt Basi at trading group CMC Markets.

"Rising demand and falling inflation in China is the perfect combo for cyclical stocks, and new Dow highs only serve to fuel the optimism further in the short term."

HONG KONG - Asian markets are mostly higher, with Tokyo supported by the weak yen, while Shanghai slipped following a rare trade deficit for China in March.

On Wall Street the Dow index provided support as it climbed to yet another record on hopes for the US economy and optimism about the January-March earnings season that started this week.

Tokyo rose 0.73 per cent, or 95.78 points, to 13,288.13 on Wednesday, while Seoul gained 0.77 per cent, or 14.84 points, to 1,935.58 but Sydney was 0.18 per cent lower, giving up 8.8 points to 4,968.0.

Hong Kong rose 0.75 per cent, or 164.22 points, to end at 22,034.56, while Shanghai was flat, edging up 0.35 points to 2,226.13.

China's customs agency said Wednesday exports climbed a below-forecast 10.0 per cent last month, and imports jumped a bigger-than-expected 14.1 per cent, while the country saw a trade deficit of $880 million. Economists had tipped a surplus of $14.7 billion.

The news comes a day after officials said inflation had come in below estimates, which analysts said indicated ongoing weakness in the world's number two economy, still struggling to recover from slower growth last year.

Dongxing Securities analyst Sun Zheng said the data showed "external demand still remains weak, which is widely known to the market".

But he told Dow Jones Newswires that "investors will pay more attention to indicators that reflect companies' business operations, profitability and revenue growth".